Coexistence through Art

(San Jose, 11/26/07) Reflecting a new era of Jewish-Muslim American relations across the nation, ING has partnered and worked for the last two years on joint programs with the Jewish Community Relations Councils of San Francisco, East Bay, Peninsula and Silicon Valley. Our objective is peace through religious literacy and mutual respect. Projects have included monthly gatherings, Common Ground Speakers Series and Interfaith Panels, whose topics have focused on commonalities, differences and shared experiences as minority faiths, such as stereotyping: Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism; maintaining our faiths in a secular society; religious fundamentalism and extremism; “December Dilemma” during the winter holiday season, etc.

Join us on Tuesday, November 27th for another exciting program between the ING and JCRC titled, Coexistence through Art. The event is by invitation only. To RSVP, please write to ING’s Interfaith Coordinator, Yasmine Khan at  [email protected]

Muslim and Jewish Students Share Coexistence Art

Los Gatos— Silicon Valley Academy, a Muslim school, and Yavneh Jewish Day School are only ten miles apart but their students usually live in completely separate worlds. On Tuesday, November 27 at 7:00pm, the middle school students and their families will come together for an unprecedented evening of Coexistence through Art.

Both schools have been studying the artwork from The Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem (www.coexistence.art.museum), an international collection of graphic art that responds to the stress and tension that currently exists between diverse groups around the world. The Museum collection has traveled the world, calling for open discussion, and for acceptance of those who seem different from ourselves.

The students have looked to their faith traditions, reviewed scriptures from the Qu’ran and the Torah, and, with their teachers, probed terms like “reconciliation,” “inner-peace,” and “coexistence.” They have created 80 pieces of original artwork, which together with pieces from the Museum on the Seam, are now on display at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos.

The teachers from the two schools were brought together by Islamic Networks Group (ING) and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley (JCRC). Maha ElGenaidi, President of ING and Diane Fisher, Executive Director of the JCRC have been working together with Lisa Ceile Goldfus of the Jewish Community Center since last summer to coordinate the effort.

The November 27th evening will be a dynamic cultural exchange, with live music by the Dror Sinai Trio, keynote presentations with local artists Youssef Ismail (former ING speaker) and Amy Trachtenberg and parent discussions led by Imam Tahir Anwar and Rabbi Dana Magat.